How a vision for Lord's was sent behind the sight screens

Friday 10 June 2011 11:10 BST

Settling for a lower score: the flats will have to be shifted from land the MCC failed to buy - and will a cricket school fit in the downsized undercroft?

Robert Griffiths is one very upset Queen's Counsel. Four years of unpaid toil pulling together a £400 million redevelopment plan for Lord's has been rewarded with expulsion from the MCC Committee and the dissolution of his 11-strong advisory group.

The 62-year-old planning silk is cheerful enough during an interview at his Gray's Inn Square chambers on Monday. But it is clear the lawyer feels ill-used, particularly by MCC chairman Oliver Stocken, 69, and treasurer Justin Dowley, 55.

At a meeting on February 16, the two eminent bankers forced a motion that dismissed Griffiths and the work of his powerful development committee with a brisk "thank you very much chaps, we'll take it from here".

Taking things from here may mean scaling down a 300,000 sq ft bazaar-cum-grand entrance beneath the nursery ground to clip £30 million from the £70 million cost. It may also mean shifting and downsizing a 300,000 sq ft residential development from land within the walls the MCC stupidly failed to buy. Land cannily bought by Charles Rifkind and Jonathan Levy, developers who could make £30 million if the Griffiths full Vision for Lord's is brought to fruition (see panel).

"We spent £3.75 million in fees on a universally acclaimed masterplan after a public competition involving 12 international architects," says Griffiths

"There was overwhelming support in favour of the winning scheme. The scaled-back alternatives have already been examined. They do not work in cricketing, architectural, planning or commercial terms. What works is the original scheme, which will generate more than £100 million towards the whole Vision for Lord's." Or more: the flats could easily sell for £2000 per square foot, estimates a leading London developer. That would bring in £600 million. The same source said it is perfectly possible rich cricket lovers could push the prices to £2500, or a total of £750 million. The often-quoted £400 million is simply the cost of the flats and the undercroft, which will contain rentable retail space as well as a cricket school and museum. So just think of the profits if flat prices rise

Stocken and Dowley are clearly thinking the reverse. Reading between the lines of the latest annual report in April, their thinking seems to be: "whoa! This Vision for Lord's was conceived during a boom. It may prove far too ambitious. Let's reconsider." An MCC spokesman conceded: "it is absolutely fair to say that scaling back the undercroft is in our minds. But at this stage nothing has been decided."

One man helping decide is former Land Securities director Mike Hussey, who set up his own firm, Almacantar, last year. At Griffiths' recommendation Hussey was appointed development partner last December. But he is being forced to recast his numbers to see what impact building a smaller undercroft and squeezing the flats onto wholly owned MCC land might be.

Stocken and Dowley may turn out to be the two wise men who prevented an over-ambitious development crippling the MCC for 100 years. But Griffiths says he should have been allowed to take the scheme through to the next stage.

"My committee could have easily obtained full planning permission," he says. "To stop for a rethink is wrong." He is confident the original scheme or a minor variant will get built. "I hope in due course it will happen. There is no good reason to abandon a feasible plan with easily manageable risks which has been pored over by experts."

In May 2007 the MCC decided the best way to pay for new stands and improve access to Lord's was to generate a profit from building flats within the hallowed walls just to the north of the Nursery Ground. The "Vision for Lord's" exercise began with setting up an advisory committee chaired by planning barrister Robert Griffiths, QC.

There was a problem: Lord's only held a 130-year lease on the wide strip of land which lies over disused railway tunnels. The MCC was offered the freehold by Railtrack years ago for £2.5 million. They made the very silly mistake of saying no.

Along came an MCC member and developer, Charles Rifkind and his business partner Jonathan Levy. They said, yes please.

The MCC's failure to buy the freehold has now led it to pause and think again. In 2007 the thought was to involve Rifkind and Levy, and stop fretting about their turning their foresight into profits of £30 million.

Herzog & de Meuron was the firm of architects chosen in July 2008, after an international competition. In November 2009 the Swiss firm presented a master plan showing five blocks of flats in a neat row along the Rifkind/Levy land, plus a new "front door" for Lord's in the shape of a 300,000 square foot undercroft beneath the Nursery Ground with cricket school, museum and retail mall.

The architects also showed what could be done with the profits. The eight-foot walls surrounding Lord's could come down. Five of the eight stands could be rebuilt. Ground capacity could be increased from 29,000 to 37,000. Better circulation could be achieved. There could be more first-class cricket on an enlarged Nursery Ground, with better training facilities beneath.

In December 2009 a powerful 11-strong development sub-committee chaired by Griffiths, pictured, was set up to oversee the work. A panel to select a developer was also set up, chaired by former BAA boss, Sir John Egan. Rifkind was asked to be one of the selectors. In December 2010 Almacantar was chosen. The start-up run by former Land Securities director, Mike Hussey, promised Lord's £100 million split of the rewards.

But doubts about how ambitious the plans were had been hinted at as long ago as last October. MCC chief executive, Keith Bradshaw, warned: "We must be mindful of the long-term economic picture and the changing nature of the game itself. We will not rush this complicated process."

Long Room whispers had it that MCC chairman, Oliver Stocken and treasurer, Justin Dowley, were worried about risks facing Lord's if the plans failed to achieve their financial goals so they decided to clip Griffiths's wings.

A full meeting of MCC Committee members on February 16 was asked by Stocken and Dowley to dissolve the development subcommittee. "If we stood up for Griffiths the fear was Stocken and Dowley would resign" said one member. "We had no choice."